DENMARK star Christian Eriksen and the side’s head coach Kasper Hjulmand are confident they can end Germany’s dream of home triumph at the Euro 2024 European Championship tonight.
The teams go to battle in Dortmund in a round of 16 clash, and Manchester United midfielder Eriksen is backing his country to upset the hosts in front of tens of thousands of their fans at Borussia Dortmund’s famous ground.
“I’m really looking forward to it. A knockout game against Germany in Germany – it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” Eriksen told UEFA.com in an interview previewing the fixture.
“A lot of people seem to think that we’ve lost already, so we can play freely and give our all. I’m looking forward to showing that we can rub shoulders [with the best teams] in this tournament.
“I believe we can beat the Germans, but many things will have to come together for us.”
Denmark shocked the world by winning the European Championship in 1992 when they were a late replacement for then troubled Yugoslavia, and Hjulmand hopes his side can overcome Germany on the way to repeating that feat.
“At the start I considered Germany one of the favourites, and it’s too bad that they’re playing us tomorrow,” Hjulmand said during his pre-match press conference yesterday.
“They have quality and talent, and expressed themselves very well in the group. But we also have quality and talent, and they’ll have to be very, very good to beat us. We know the fans that travel to Dortmund will do their very best to inspire us. We will be ready for it.”
Both Denmark and Germany are unbeaten in their last six matches and the hosts much more successful in the tournament with three titles and three runners-up finishes.
Denmark finished second in their group after drawing all their games with England, Slovenia and Serbia, while Germany topped Group A with victories over Scotland and Hungary and a draw with Switzerland.
